Battle in Yemen's Taiz kills scores of combatants: sources to AFP

Yemen's Houthis and Saudi-backed forces fought over an area near a waterway crucial to global energy flows, killing 80 combatants over the past day, sources on both sides told AFP on Friday.

Fighting in Taiz has raged since the Iran-backed Houthis began a lightning offensive against the internationally-recognised, Saudi-backed government.

The civil war, which dates to 2014 but had been dormant following a truce in 2022 roared back to life in July, as the wider Middle East war ignited another front.

The Houthis, a predominantly Zaidi Shia group whose heartlands lie in the north of the country, have since early in the war controlled most of Yemen's populated areas.

The internationally recognised government, which has been backed militarily by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, controls the south including the port city of Aden.

In their offensive last month, the Houthis also took control of the remainder of Yemen's Red Sea coast, including the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait, which is crucial not just for Saudi energy exports but for global shipping as a whole.

On Friday afternoon, the Houthis said that Saudi forces had launched 94 strikes against areas under their control in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of strikes to 1,350 since the start of the renewed fighting.

Meanwhile, Saudi authorities reported that a Houthi projectile had hit and damaged a school in the city of Najran, which is around 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the Yemeni border.

In a post on X, the Saudi civil defence agency shared photos taken after sundown that it said showed the damage from the projectile, including a crater. It did not mention any casualties.

- 'Grave risks' -

According to Houthi military sources, at least 55 anti-government fighters have been killed over the past 24 hours in fighting against government troops in the Taiz area.

Government sources meanwhile told AFP that 26 troops on their side had been killed.

Fighting around Taiz is raging on several fronts, including in highlands overlooking the coastal areas seized in recent weeks by the Houthis.

While the Houthis have seized swathes of territory, they have yet to wrest control of Taiz city, which is Yemen's third-largest after Sanaa and Aden.

On Thursday, the Houthis destroyed a bridge linking government-held areas to Aden, where the government is based, government sources told AFP.

The UN's special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said on Thursday he was alarmed by developments in the Taiz governorate, adding that the Houthis' operations pose "grave risks to the civilian population".

"Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Every effort must be made to prevent further harm and ensure safe and unhindered access to people in need," he said.

On Friday, meanwhile, the UN's World Food Programme warned of an "absolutely devastating" food crisis in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries.

It said nearly three-quarters of the Yemeni population was unable to meet its basic food needs. The country hasn't had a census for more than two decades, but the UN estimates its population at 42 million people.

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